Jeff Mann (James Cardwell) is a reporter for The Bulletin. He is also a blackmailer. As a reporter he is able to dig up secrets and use them to blackmail some important people. Lately Jeff has been a little nervous and believes someone has been following him. One evening Jeff is killed in his own office. Fellow reporters in the newsroom see the shadow of a man on the frosted glass of Mann’s office door. When they enter the room, they find Mann dead and no one else in the room. The witnesses are convinced that the shadow seen on the office door was that of a crime fighting vigilante known as The Shadow. Police Inspector Cardonna (Joseph Crehan) arrives on scene. While investigating he learns that a police officer down on the street was also killed.
The Shadow is the alter ego of Lamont Cranston, a wealthy businessman and the nephew of Police Commissioner Weston (Pierre Watkin), who solves crimes in his spare time. Cranston is engaged to marry Margo Lane (Barbara Read). Cranston is assisted in his secret endeavors by Shrevvie (George Chandler). Shrevvie’s girlfriend is Jennie Delaney (Dorothea Kent).
People begin to think that The Shadow murdered Jeff. The autopsy, however, said that the cause of death for both Mann and the policeman was heart failure. Cranston decides that he needs to investigate on his own to clear his name. To do that he needs to identify all those who were paying blackmail to Jeff and eliminate them one by one until he finds the killer. He also needs to find out what method the killer used to dispose of his victims. How do you murder someone and make it look like natural causes?
“Behind the Mask” was released in 1946 and was directed by Phil Karlson. It is an American low budget mystery comedy and a superhero movie. Some sources credit William Beaudine as the original director who was then replaced by Karlson.
Monogram Pictures did three films featuring the superhero character The Shadow. The other two films in the series were “The Missing Lady” 1946 and “The Shadow Returns” 1946. This film was the second of the series.
The sound isn’t synched up very well on any of the copies I’ve seen of the film. As the movie goes along, the synchronization gets worse. It’s a rather creaky mystery and somewhat difficult to follow at times. The film itself is 90% comedy, 5% action and 5 % mystery. The actual “Shadow” doesn’t appear in the film until about 56 minutes of the 67-minute film. Most of the movie is Margo accusing Cranston of having an affair with every woman that comes anywhere near him and Cranston being condescending and patronizing to Margo in return. It’s not a great mystery, or even a great comedy. I found the characters to be mostly annoying and rather flat.
It would mostly appeal to rabid fans of The Shadow character, especially one who is a misogynist. Just keep in mind that there is nothing in the film that follows the actual characteristics and themes of the original Shadow radio show. This Shadow has no superpowers.